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Native Americans: Daniel Snyder pushes 'bigotry' tactic

The National Congress of Americans and the Oneida Indian Nation sent a letter to Washington NFL club owner Daniel Snyder last month asking him to stop representatives of his team from speaking of the team's

The National Congress of Americans and the Oneida Indian Nation sent a letter to Washington NFL club owner Daniel Snyder last month asking him to stop representatives of his team from speaking of the team's name controversy as an issue pushed by white elites.

Tuesday, they accused Snyder directly of using the same tactic.

"In the last few months, various employees of the Washington football team have denigrated people of color by pretending they are not part of the campaign to change the team's name," Oneida Nation representative Ray Halbritter told USA TODAY Sports.

"In deliberately ignoring the countless number of people of color who are the core of this campaign, this sadly common form of bigotry pretends people of color do not exist. As of this week, we now know this ugly tactic is being pushed directly by the owner of the Washington team."

Halbritter was reacting to Snyder's appearance Monday on ESPN 980, the sports-talk radio station Snyder owns, where Snyder said that opposition to his team's name is "cocktail chit-chat talk" and "sort of fun to talk about ... because it gets attention for some of the people who write about it who need clicks."

The team said in a statement to USA TODAY Sports: "Mr. Halbritter and Mr. Snyder clearly disagree with each other's position, and it is apparent they will for a very long time. Mr. Halbritter should note that nearly 85 percent of Americans believe the name should not be changed. However, we do respect his opinion."

(Photo: Geoff Burke, USA TODAY Sports)

The Oneida Nation said Snyder did not answer the letter, dated July 23, which listed Native American and civil rights groups that have called on the team to change its name.

"In claiming that the campaign comes only from a small handful of 'fun'-seekers looking for attention on the Internet, Mr. Snyder is trying to pretend that scores of people of color simply do not exist," Halbritter said. "Unfortunately for Mr. Snyder, this is no longer the era of his predecessor who gave the team its name, famed segregationist George Preston Marshall.

"This is the 21st century. We do exist, and we will not stop this campaign until he stops promoting, marketing and profiting off a dictionary-defined racial slur."